2025 Year in Review: How a Crisis Became the Greatest Opportunity of Our Time

• January: Our book “The Cocaine of Industry” makes waves in Berlin. Even before commodities become an everyday topic of conversation, we issue a pointed warning: Europe’s future depends on secure supply chains!
• March: Technikmuseum Berlin—curtain up for the book premiere! The audience is a diverse mix: investors, journalists, and fans of our bold theses.
• July: SE AG launches the first fully regulated security for strategic metals. At exactly the right time, investors gain direct access to a genuine growth story.
• October: The trade war between the US and China reaches a climax—and in a way no economics textbook could have made more exciting. Tariffs surge, and the prices of our metals do exactly what we expected: they explode.
• December: After his appearance on Markus Lanz, Andreas Kroll, CEO of Noble Elements, raised the bar even further with a trip to Beijing as part of Johann Wadephul’s business delegation. He told us about an unforgettable experience and is proud to be able to share his insights at the political level as well.

Our core theses took off this year—everywhere, people debated, wrote, asked questions, and conducted interviews:

• April: Handelsblatt and WDR 5 bring our expertise to the microphone. Suddenly everyone understands: supply bottlenecks are not theoretical constructs—they have a direct impact on our daily lives and our economy.
• June: An ARD prime-time evening focused entirely on raw-material sovereignty: In the documentary “China and Us,” Noble Elements CEO Andreas Kroll puts it succinctly: “If China doesn’t deliver, the lights go out in Europe.” Spotlight on!
• July: The cover of FOCUS magazine—there is no clearer way to visualize the “battle for commodities.”
  November: The debate reached its peak when Andreas Koll was invited onto Markus Lanz as a wholesaler of critical commodities. On the program, he compellingly highlighted the importance of secure supply and gave the topic of supply security the media reach it deserves.
• Heute Show (October): Heute Show also captured it with humour: our almost empty warehouse appears on TV, two viewers seem unimpressed—until it becomes clear that without rare earths, not only the lights but also mobile phones will stop working. Time to slap yourself in the forehead and wake up! —
• December: Andreas Kroll travels to Beijing together with a high-level business delegation. Numerous newspaper articles report on the talks, which focused primarily on export controls for rare earths and their impact on European industry.

The vulnerability of global supply chains became clearer this year than it has in a long time:

• April: International export controls for 7 rare earths become reality and highlight the challenges along global supply chains. In German industrial plants, the lights go out—figuratively and, unfortunately, sometimes literally. Deliveries fail to arrive, and production lines grind to a halt.
• October: The situation continues to escalate: the US threatens tariffs of up to 100% on goods from China, prompting Beijing to tighten its export controls for rare earths in response. These now apply not to 7, but to a total of 12 heavy rare-earth metals. Uncertainty grows, panic buying shapes the market—yet all of this helps little when commodities are simply no longer available. Our forecasts hit the mark.

This is precisely where Seltene Erden AG (SE AG) comes in. As the first physically backed commodity share, it contributes to German and European supply security by providing private and institutional investors with direct, secure access to critical raw materials. Those who invest in SE AG now will benefit sustainably from this market’s growth potential and actively help safeguard innovation and stability in Europe. Investors can seize this opportunity to future-proof their portfolio together with SE AG and become part of the change.
The temporary breather in the trade conflict, brought about by a diplomatic deal between the US and China, gives Europe only little time to reset the course. Policymakers, industry, and investors are called upon—SE AG supports them in using this decisive phase as an opportunity.

• 2025: There was one small downside after all: our much-loved Noble Night—an absolute highlight in 2024—had to be cancelled due to a marathon in the city. But as the saying goes: after the race is before the party! We learn from every mistake and are already looking forward to bringing this very special celebration back to life with you next year.

Our time has clearly come! We are growing—and not by a small margin:

• + seven new employees
• + several new office spaces have been leased

This sets the course for an even more successful 2026. More people, more ideas, more solutions for the future of raw-material supply security.

2025 was turbulent, but above all one thing: full of opportunity. The clock is ticking, but we know that together—as industry, policymakers, and private investors—anything is possible. The next raw-material year will come as surely as the next Noble Night. And anyone who wants to be part of it should start getting ready now.


Make 2026 the year of your future investments. Let us advise you and discover how you can become an active part of the solution. We look forward to hearing from you!